DISCUSSION OF GENOCIDE RESOLUTION AT US CONGRESS IS ARMENIAN LOBBY’S ACHIEVEMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.02.2010 15:20 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Discussion of Armenian Genocide Resolution,
H.Res.252, at U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is, first of
all, the result of successful lobbying of Armenian organizations,
including Hay Dat, ARF-Dashnaktsutyun parliamentary group leader
Vahan Hovhannisyan stated.
As he told a news conference in Yerevan, the discussion came as a
result of Armenian organisations’ consistent struggle for Genocide
recognition.
Mr. Hovhannisyan emphasized that in case the U.S. House of
Representatives passes the resolution, there’s a high possibility
Barack Obama will use the term Genocide in his annual April 24 address.
Dwelling on Armenia-Turkey reconciliation process, he said, "If
Turkey doesn’t ratify protocols by the end of March, we can give up
on rapprochement."
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun is an Armenian
political party founded in Tiflis (Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia)
in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian
The ARF has the largest number of members from the political parties
present in the Armenian Diaspora, having established affiliates in
more than 200 countries.
The ARF-Dashnaktsutyun led the effort toward the establishment of
the first Armenian Republic in 1918 and was the party in power for
the duration of its existence. Following the Sovietization of Armenia
in 1920, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun was banned by the Communists and its
leadership exiled.
In the Diaspora, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun fought Soviet rule over
Armenia and championed the cause of Armenian rights and independence;
it played a leading role in organizing a social and cultural framework
aimed at preserving the Armenian identity.
The ARF-Dashnaktsutyun officially re-emerged in Armenia during the
dissolution of the USSR, in 1990.
On December 28, 1994, the activities of the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun
were "temporarily suspended" by the Armenian authorities. In
view of the political nature of the anti-ARF interdictions by the
Armenian authorities, the ARF continued to operate in Armenia. On
February 9, 1998, less than a week after the resignation of the then
president Ter-Petrossian, the Justice Ministry lifted the ban on
the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun.
The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation.
On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.
The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.
The date of the onset of the genocide is conventionally held to be
April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople.
Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted Armenians from their homes
and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of
food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria.
To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized
the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars
and historians accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also
recognized by influential media including The New York Times, BBC,
The Washington Post and The Associated Press.
The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.
The Armenian Cause (Hay Dat) is Armenian national liberation movement
for restoration of the independent Armenian state and reunification
of Armenians. The core issue is the worldwide recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. Hay Dat has offices across the globe.
The Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res. 106) was submitted to the
House of Representatives by Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), during
the 110th United States Congress. It is a non-binding resolution
calling upon the US President to ensure that the foreign policy of
the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing,
and genocide documented in the United States record relating to
the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes. The resolution was
introduced on January 30, 2007.